Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Politics/National
NationalNewsRace

Trump Issues Proclamation Celebrating ‘National African-American History Month’

Posted byBy Tanasia Kenney | Published on: | Updated on February 3, 2017 CommentsComments (0)

President-elect Donald Trump. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images.

(UPDATE) Though initial claims suggested President Donald Trump had permanently changed Black History Month to be  recognized as “National African-American History Month”, it turns out he isn’t the first president to issue such a proclamation.

TMZ on Thursday, Feb. 2, reported that the newly-elected president decided to axe the moniker “Black History Month” after meeting with several African-American leaders this week. Trump said they decided the term “Black” was largely “out dated” and felt it would be more appropriate to use the term “African-American,” an administration official familiar with the matter told the news site.

The official also added that the president was mindful of the new addition to the Smithsonian, referencing the newly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

There was much backlash over the alleged name change, but it turns out that the terms “Black History Month” and “African-American History Month” have been used interchangeably by presidents for decades. Snopes.com reported that former President Gerald Ford first used the the term Black History Month in 1976, but later presidents including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have used the term “African-American History Month” in at least one of their annual proclamations for the month of February.

Read Trump’s presidential proclamation for National African-American History Month below:

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top